Improvement in sinking metallic piles



2 Sheets- Sheet i.

J. DU. BOIS.

Improvement in Sinking Metallic-Piles.

N0. I31,746, I Patented Oct.1,1872.

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JOHN DUBOIS, OF WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVE MENT IN SINKING METALLIC PlL ES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 131,746, dated October 1, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN DuBoIs, of Williamsport, in the county of Lycoming and State of Penn sylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Mode of Sinking Piles to great depths in strata of mud, gravel, or quicksand, with machinery for accomplishing the same; and the following is a full,

clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawing making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of my machine; Fig. 2 is a plan or horizontal section of the same below the line y y of Figs. 3 i and 4; Fig. 3 is a front elevation; and Fig. 4

is a vertical section on line 00 as of Fig. 2.

The object of my improvement is to sink large metallic piles to a firm bottom under water when the mud, gravel, or quicksand composing the strata to be penetrated is of a loose and variable character and extends to great depth. To effect the proper sinking of metallic piles of great length and weight I propose to disturb the sand or earth directly beneath by the revolution of the pile itself, and effect the removal of said sand, 8w, by means of a currentofwater caused to flow through said pile, under sufficient pressure, and escape at the lower end and alongthe outer side thereof. When the weight of the pile is very great the force with which it rests upon the sand or earth beneath it may be sufficient to prevent the, revolution of said pile by any available power. To avoid this contingency I suspend the pile fromthe machine during the whole course of its descent, so that it is at all times under control, and permitted to descend only so fast as desirable; and the invention consists, principally, in the adoption of devices whereby a pile may be suspended and caused to revolve, independent of its descending movement;

To accomplish this I construct upon a scow or float, A, a strong frame-work, composed of uprights B and capping F, of sufficient height and strength to guide and suspend a hollow metalliopile, 0, during its adjustment and descent through the water and soil beneath until it reaches its destination at the requireddepth. The posts B form guides to direct the vertical movements of the cross-head E. The capping F of the posts B serves as'a support for the screw-shafts G, to which the cross-head E is suspended by means of the bent nuts, V. On

top of the cross-head E is a cup, M, the bot- 1 tom of which is extended to form the tube N, which passes through the cross-head E and constitutes the box within which the hollow.

journal K revolves. A pipe, P, is inserted in the side of said cup for the attachment of a I hose or water pipe, and said cup may be thereby connected with a steam-pump of sufiicent power. The hollow journal K passes through the box N and cross'head E, and has at its upper end a flange, L, which rests on the bottom of and within the cup M. The

gear-wheel J is secured to the hollow journal K below the cross-head E, and the collar It extends downward below said wheel sufficiently far to receive the end of the pile (3, which may be secured to said collar by means of the pins j j. The gear-wheel J is revolved by a pinion, 19, upon the driving -shaft q, the upper end of which has its bearing in the capping F. The pinion p is attached, by a hollow journal, to the cross-head E, and slides on the shaft q as said cross-head moves up and down, being revolved with said shaft by a spline or feather. At the botto'm ofthe shaft q are two gear-wheels-the one a chain-wheel, R, which is loose upon said shaft, and the other the bevel-wheel Q, which meshes with a pinion, U, on the main driving-shaft. The loose wheel It may be uncoupled from the wheel Q by withdrawing the pin S, so that it maybe revolved or not, at will. The lower wheel It is geared to the wheels It It, at the bottoms of the screwshafts G G, respectively, by means of the chain T. The pinion 19 is provided with j a clutch, which is not shown in the drawing, whereby it may be disconnected from the wheel J when it is required to revolve the feed screws without revolving the pile. The lower end of the hollow pile O is fitted with a steel point, H, around which is cut a spiral thread, in order that when the pile revolves it will easily penetrate and disturb the soil to facilitate its descent. The holes I between the threads of the spiral point are outlets through which water is forced against the soil disturbed by point of the pile to carry the same to the surface. The outer surface of the pile may be made either smooth, or grooved or fluted spirally or perpendicularly. If the depth be so great as to make it inconvenient to use a single length of pile, it may be made in sections and jointed together to form any desired length. The water from the pump is forced through the pipe P into the cup M, and to the interior of the pile, and escapes at the orifices I while the pile is descending. The sand or loose soil is thereby removed from in front of the pile, and the pile is relieved from lateral pressure by the surrounding soil while in the act of its descent.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The depth to be reached being such as to require several sections in length of the pile, the float carrying the machine is placed over the point at which the pile is to be sunk, and the lower section of the pile is placed in position. It is now clamped fast with its top above water, and the next section of the pile fastened to it. The whole is then lowered to the bottom, if within reach; if not, another section is attached and the operation repeated until the pile can penetrate the soil no further by its own weight. The cross-head E is then lowered and the top of the pile connected to the gear-wheel J by the pins j j. The steam-pump is then set in motion, and, if the weight of the pile has sunk it so deeply as to make it difficult to start the machinery, the water passing through the pile and escaping near its point will loosen the adjacent soil,

and by its force wash out a passage some distance in advance, into which the pile will sink by force of its own weight. While the pile is descending by force of its own weight it will not require to be revolved by the machinery. The pinion 12 will then be'uncoupled from wheel J, and the feed-screws G will be revolved so fast as necessary to properly regulate the rapidity of the descent of the pile. When it is desired to revolve the pile without operating the feedscrews the wheel Q may be uncoupled from the feed mechanism by the withdrawal of the pin S. When the pile will descend no further by force of its own weight the machinery is set in motion, and the pile descends as the feed-screws revolve until it reaches its destination. If it is thought that the weight of the pile, aided by the action of its revolving screw-point and the current of water escaping thereat, has not caused it to reach a firm foundation, the weight of the float A may be added to increase the penetrating power of the point H by simply putting a couple of bolts through the holes w in the top ends of the nuts V,'which are turned up for that purpose above the cross-head E. The screwshaft G being in motion and drawing the nuts down, the bolts over the cross-head must necessarily either force the pile to descend or the float to rise up.

Havingdescribed myinvention, what Iclaim as new in the method of sinking iron piles of large size, designed to remain in the ground as permanent foundations for heavy structures, is

1. The disturbance and loosening of the soil in the line of its advance by the revolution of said pile, in conjunction with the removal of said disturbed soil by a current of water under pressure, escaping at or near the point of the pile, as set forth.

2. A revolving-pile, provided with a screwflanged point and orifices at or near its point for the escape of water under pressure, to remove the soil disturbed by the revolution of said screw-point, in combination with the devices described, whereby said pile is supported and suspended, and controlled as to the rapidity of its advance, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The cup M, constructed with box N, and provided with water-pipe 19, combined with the hollow journal K, provided with flange L, gear-wheel J, and sleeve 70, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the moving crosshead E, from which the hollow pile G is suspended, the feeding-scr'ews G, and nuts V, provided with holes w for the reception of the bolts to couple said nuts and cross-head together, as set forth.

JOHN DU BOIS. Witnesses:

J. B. WOODRUFF, A. J. B. LARKIN. 

